A final caveat – I’m happy to spread the word for the people./groups that were at the IDEA conference, but that’s no substitute for attending an event such as this. To be honest, in the past I’ve gone to very few of these things. But this year I went to Pecha Kucha New York, was a volunteer organizer for Interesting New York, and attended IDEA. I’d even count checking out likemind as time well spent. Sure, you can learn something by reading about these events, but the visceral experience of being there in person can’t be replicated.

The thing I found most surprising was that cost was most certainly not a barrier to entry. Pecha Kucha was $7 I think, Interesting was $35. The next time an event like that pops up – and if you look hard enough there are probably several happening every month in a city near you – make a commitment to checking it out. It will be worth your time.